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Using Anki to remember what you read

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Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#21

Post by kd5bjo »

ProstetnicJeltz wrote: post #17
oweiler wrote: post #3

I sometimes wonder if tools like Anki aren't just another form of procrastination. The time invested could probably be better spent.

Really? I have a rule with Anki where the question is one line and the answer is no more than 3. No cards take longer than a minute to write, or more than 10 seconds to remember. If it's anything longer, then it's probably not a subject you should be using anki to learn or you're trying to remember too large a bloc of information at once. I have absolutely no idea how this could be a form of procrastination, or how I…

> I have absolutely no idea ... how I could more efficiently memorize information that must be memorized.

Outside of a schooling/testing context, memorization alone is rarely beneficial. You need to be able to practically apply the knowledge, which happens through experience; looking details up when you need them forms a natural kind of spaced repetition anyway that’s tuned to what you actually need to know.

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#22

Post by Hamuko »

throwaway9d0291 wrote: post #18
oweiler wrote: post #3

I sometimes wonder if tools like Anki aren't just another form of procrastination. The time invested could probably be better spent.

It depends what you're doing. I mainly use it for learning vocabulary. I'm learning German and Anki is nothing short of amazing. I'm easily able to learn ~20 words a day primarily just practicing on my phone during bathroom breaks. On the other hand I'm also learning Russian and Anki just doesn't work. Words won't stick in my head the way they do with German. I've heard very numerous accounts of it being great for Ja…

>I've heard very numerous accounts of it being great for Japanese.

There's at least great pre-made Japanese vocab decks. I'm about two months into one. Maybe less so for kanji (I at least don't have one), so that's probably something you need to do outside.

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#24

Post by rhizome31 »

tokamak-teapot wrote: post #2

I’ve used Anki for months, trying to learn the Greek alphabet. I’ve failed. I don’t think I’ve learned more than one or two of its letters. Is it possible I’m just not compatible with the way this works? Any tips on alternatives?

When I went to Greece I learned it in a few days just by trying to read all the signs I could see. I guess the trick is not to learn isolated letters but learn to read common words.

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#25

Post by Grue3 »

throwaway9d0291 wrote: post #18
oweiler wrote: post #3

I sometimes wonder if tools like Anki aren't just another form of procrastination. The time invested could probably be better spent.

It depends what you're doing. I mainly use it for learning vocabulary. I'm learning German and Anki is nothing short of amazing. I'm easily able to learn ~20 words a day primarily just practicing on my phone during bathroom breaks. On the other hand I'm also learning Russian and Anki just doesn't work. Words won't stick in my head the way they do with German. I've heard very numerous accounts of it being great for Ja…

>On the other hand I'm also learning Russian and Anki just doesn't work. Words won't stick in my head the way they do with German.

Because (for English speakers) Russian is harder than German. You need to reduce the number of words learned per day. Japanese is even harder to learn, but you have to be persistent. I spent more than an hour every single day for several years straight to learn the vocabulary.

Also there's a unique challenge with Russian is that nouns, verbs and adjectives are all conjugated, and the rules are quite complex. The noun cases would be completely foreign to non-Slavic language speaker. Even if you learn the vocabulary, using it in sentences is not trivial at all.

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#26

Post by manish_gill »

knubie wrote: post #4

If Anki’s UI/UX turns you off, I’ve built an alternative called Mochi ( https://mochi.cards/ ) that uses markdown. Incidentally it also supports Zettelkasten like note taking like described in the article.

Looks great! I have a few questions.

- I have a huge Zettelkasten note archive (I manage it through Sublime-Zk, which is getting a bit slow to operate it). Can I somehow directly import all my Zettel notes?

- I tried to import my Anki cards, but it seems like while I could go through them, I couldn't assign them to any particular deck/reclassify them. They show up as part of a "Not Found" deck and I don't see any option/drag-and-drop method to move them anywhere else.

I'll definitely be giving Mochi a try. Thanks a lot for creating it!

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#27

Post by mattlutze »

kd5bjo wrote: post #21
ProstetnicJeltz wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? I have a rule with Anki where the question is one line and the answer is no more than 3. No cards take longer than a minute to write, or more than 10 seconds to remember. If it's anything longer, then it's probably not a subject you should be using anki to learn or you're trying to remember too large a bloc of information at once. I have absolutely no idea how this could be a form of procrastination, or how I…

> I have absolutely no idea ... how I could more efficiently memorize information that must be memorized. Outside of a schooling/testing context, memorization alone is rarely beneficial. You need to be able to practically apply the knowledge, which happens through experience; looking details up when you need them forms a natural kind of spaced repetition anyway that’s tuned to what you actually need to know.

Well, as a counterpoint, imagine how much time could be saved if you were able to recall from memory not just the most-used functions that you need for a problem, but the next level down of sometimes or rarely used ones. Or for patterns, or for other such things that can be simplified down into memorizable / recallable blocks.

Regularly looking things up is ok, but actively re-experiencing the thing you're trying to learn is a better way to make it stick.

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#29

Post by mkl »

tokamak-teapot wrote: post #2

I’ve used Anki for months, trying to learn the Greek alphabet. I’ve failed. I don’t think I’ve learned more than one or two of its letters. Is it possible I’m just not compatible with the way this works? Any tips on alternatives?

I think you'd be able to learn the Greek alphabet in at most an hour, just by writing it out and saying it repeatedly. Making it stick long term would be a matter of a couple of minutes a day for a week or so, then every few days. It's small and simple enough that flash cards aren't necessary.

For more involved facts, Anki seems great in principle, but in practice I've found it hard to create and maintain the habit of doing the cards.

Re: Using Anki to remember what you read

#30

Post by bluGill »

mattlutze wrote: post #27
kd5bjo wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have absolutely no idea ... how I could more efficiently memorize information that must be memorized. Outside of a schooling/testing context, memorization alone is rarely beneficial. You need to be able to practically apply the knowledge, which happens through experience; looking details up when you need them forms a natural kind of spaced repetition anyway that’s tuned to what you actually need to know.

Well, as a counterpoint, imagine how much time could be saved if you were able to recall from memory not just the most-used functions that you need for a problem, but the next level down of sometimes or rarely used ones. Or for patterns, or for other such things that can be simplified down into memorizable / recallable blocks. Regularly looking things up is ok, but actively re-experiencing the thing you're trying to…

In many cases less time that what I spend looking it up. I regularly look up things I haven't needed before, a few minutes of reading and I know it. Many of those things are something I expect to never need again in my lifetime. The few seconds to memorize all those things is greater than the time saved. Particularly since I don't know what I will need next week and so I'll be spending a lot of time learning things I turn out to never need.
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